In case you’ve been away or living under a rock, there are really big developments occurring in the publishing world. People are releasing survey results left and right. Sharing data most of us would never get our hands on. It makes for very interesting reading, if you keep an open mind that everything is open to interpretation. The most controversial (to the panicked masses) seems to be coming from Hugh Howey’s Author Earnings website.
Things I always keep in mind when I read publishing surveys:
- Not every survey can include every scrap of information we want.
- Publishing data, in particular author earnings estimates, has never been shared so freely before. Without a central database of some kind there is no way to factor in every author’s earnings to the picture.
- Some people dislike change and the people who don’t follow along with what they’re doing and get grumpy
Determining where you might fit into our fast changing industry is no easy task. You can spend SO much time looking at earnings levels, indie vs trad published, reviews and rankings, trying to see the sense in everyone’s opinion. Don’t get me wrong, I do love stats and conversations about publishing. But after the first release of new material there comes the inevitable naysayers who insist we must choose a side to stand on that just gets so depressing.
Its been a really big week for naysayer nonsense. Many thanks to Hugh Howey, Data Guy, and the Spider that’s crawling into interesting places and weathering the storm. Please keep it up. 🙂
For the record, I’m 100% indie published and pretty happy with the decisions I’ve made for my stories. If you’ve got a problem with those decisions please don’t bother to tell me. I make a living. I’m paying the bills.
What I want, all I want, is for authors to have a fair chance at making a living from their writing and have a chance to own, or get back, the rights to the spoils of their imaginations.
*slides soapbox beneath desk again*
Something exciting to leave you with…
During the week the print proof copy of An Accidental Affair arrived from Createspace. So very excited to see it in print at last. Also, I’m getting my books uploaded for sale at GooglePlay. Sadly it is taking a very long time unfortunately as we have a lot of books to load at once and GooglePlay seems to update only overnight. May be another week or two before that is complete. Will post links soon.
Lady Farnsworth learned the value of independence after an unfulfilling marriage. Although lonely, she must chaperone her niece during her first last season. Gossip paints the Earl of Rothwell a notorious scoundrel, but this season Merrick’s intentions are honorable. … until he mistakenly kisses the wrong lady and everything about the encounter feels so very right.